Under threat by right-wing JVP of a law suit, a coalition partner to the Government, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratna Wickremanayake told the Parliament that the controversy over the merger of north and east provinces could be settled through a referendum.
The Supreme Court (SC) had voided the merger since the conditions of the merger were not met and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) demanded an answer from the Sri Lankan Government (SLG) on its future course of action. The SLG has so far not acted on the SC order and the JVP has threatened to move a contempt petition against it if there was no action.
Meanwhile, there were reports of the Sri Lankan Army threatening the editors of three Tamil newspapers against printing editorials and news reports that showed it in bad light.
